Ikeys Set To Defend Their Title in Japan
Andile Majola
The Ikey Tigers jet off to Japan this weekend to defend their title in the World University Rugby Cup. The tournament started in 2015 as a competition played amongst the top academic rugby universities in each continent and was set to coincide with the Rugby World Cup every 4 years. The 2015 edition of the competition, hosted by Oxford University in the UK, was a roaring success for all teams involved. Having won the 2014 Varsity Cup the Ikeys were invited to the inaugural event where they put in a strong performance against Trinity College Dublin in the final to eventually lift the cup.
As the defending champions UCT, have been invited back to defend their title and coach Christiaan Esterhuizen is expecting a tough challenge in the second edition of the competition. He had this to say in a recent interview with SARugby Magazine.
“It is exciting to go and play in a country like Japan. I am looking forward to seeing how things change with it being the second edition of the tournament. Teams are going to take it more seriously.”
“We are expecting a good side from New Zealand, the team from British Columbia is preparing against the Auckland U19s and there is a team from Bordeaux that has held a big campaign get support for the tournament. So there is quite a bit more awareness about the tournament and teams are going to be more competitive.”
The Ikey Tigers jet off to Japan this weekend to defend their title in the World University Rugby Cup. The tournament started in 2015 as a competition played amongst the top academic rugby universities in each continent and was set to coincide with the Rugby World Cup every 4 years. The 2015 edition of the competition, hosted by Oxford University in the UK, was a roaring success for all teams involved. Having won the 2014 Varsity Cup the Ikeys were invited to the inaugural event where they put in a strong performance against Trinity College Dublin in the final to eventually lift the cup.
As the defending champions UCT, have been invited back to defend their title and coach Christiaan Esterhuizen is expecting a tough challenge in the second edition of the competition. He had this to say in a recent interview with SARugby Magazine.
“It is exciting to go and play in a country like Japan. I am looking forward to seeing how things change with it being the second edition of the tournament. Teams are going to take it more seriously.”
“We are expecting a good side from New Zealand, the team from British Columbia is preparing against the Auckland U19s and there is a team from Bordeaux that has held a big campaign get support for the tournament. So there is quite a bit more awareness about the tournament and teams are going to be more competitive.”
The Ikey Tigers have been placed in Pool B where they will face up against the University of British Columbia, the University of Auckland and the University of Bordeaux.
Ashwyn Adams, Ikeys front-rower, had this to say about the upcoming competition.
“We’ve had a good prep over the last two weeks leading up the competition. The boys are very excited to go over to Japan and defend our title. A rugby tour is always special and the fact that this will be an international tour makes it that much more exciting.”
“On the field, I’m looking forward to playing against different styles of rugby. It will be interesting to see how different countries adapt to conditions. Off the field, I’m looking forward to experiencing the Japanese culture and local food as well as watching the Springboks’ opening Rugby World Cup match against New Zealand.”
The Ikeys will be confident going into the competition off the back of a very successful Western Province Super League-A campaign and will be hoping to win big in Japan. We wish them all the best on their journey as they take another step towards putting our university on the map on a global scale.
